Well heating and pumping system



Feb. 26, 1929. y

K. P. NEILSEN WELL HEATING AND PUMPING SYSTEM Filed Feb. e, 1926 @VTOE 3% I f ,J W

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Patented Fb. 26, 1929.

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,KARL P. NEILSEN, F LONG 'EACIL CALIFORNIA.

WELL Haumann rrnimnvcl SYSTEM.

Application med February i As may be inferred from 'the above designation, this invention relates particularly to improved means for obtaining comparatively heavy hydrocarbon products from oil wells; and organizations of the type herein 1 described may be used, with very notable advantage, in obtaining those mineral oils which run below about 13 B. in gravitymany of these oils or oil mixtures as naturally occurring in California and elsewhere being, when cool, so stiff that one may actually walk upon them, although sufliciently fluid when heated, as by steam, to permit the pumping thereof by ordinary cyclically moving parts such as pumps comprising usual or special reciprocating plungers.

It is an object of this invention to provide a combination of the general character indi'- cated, including a main pump, comprising moving parts, disposed above a heater to which a hot fluid such as steam is admitted, the movements of said main pump being incidentally effective to operate vla subsidiary pump for the elevation of condensed water, or the like,-preferably through a pipe distinct from, but concentric with that through which oil, or the like, may be delivered by said main pump; and,/in preferred embodiments of my invention the oil being delivered upward through a string such as a 'so-called macaroni string by which reciprocation of a main plunger is effected, and the water of condensation being by-passed, as pumped, to

a level above the cylinder of the ma'in pump, the pumped water may be elevated in a space surrounding the mentioned macaroni string serving as a pump rod, in such` manner as to keep the delivered column of heavy oil comparatively hot, throughout the entire distance to the surface of the ground.

Other objects of my invention, including the provision of a heater of novel design, preferably provided lwith an air releasing valve and with means for confining air about a downwardly extending pipe through which condensed water is upwardly delivered past a foot valve, and comprising also means whereby the downward stroke of the plunger of a main pump is effective to force the c on- 8, 1926,. Serial No. 86,809.

densed water upward through a valved I- passv or by-passes, and preferabl comprising also an oil inlet iittinfr provided with .a plurality of standing valves disposed eccentrically with reference to the moving parts of. a mam pump, may be best appreciated from the following descriptions of illustrative em' bodiments of my invention, taken in connection with the appended claims and the accompanying drawings, in which lA is a substantially central-vertical 00 section through an organization illustrating my 1nvent1on,as positionedin a well, Fig. l"3 bemg an upward continuation of Fig. 1^.

Fig. 2 is a horizontal section, taken substantially as indicated by the line 2 2 of 65 Fig. 1A.

Fig. 3 is a View corresponding to Fig. 2, but illustrating a modification suitable for use 1n close quarters. f' n Referring to the details of that specific embodiment of my invention illustrated in Figs. 1A, l? and 2,-11 being an outer casing sucn as is commonly provided in an oil well, or the like, 12 represents a comparatively small pipe, suitable for the delivery of al heating fluid, such as steam, past a control valve (not shown-being at the surface) to a heater or lower chamber 13, located at the level from which oil, or the like, is to be elevated; and this heater is shown as provided not only 30 with an air release valve 14, adapted to permit replace/ment of air within the said heater by'steam, but also withl a substantially central pipe lo, comparable with the so-called gas anchor pipes commonly secured to the 85 standing valves of reciprocating pumps,`- this pipe 15 being'carried to a level-near the bottom of the heater 13, in order to permit. a continuous or `intermittent pumping of condensed water therefrom. The valve 14 is 90 shown as retained by means of an interiorly threaded member 16 providing an additional seat 17 therefor; and the weight of the ball constituting valve 14 may be such as to cause the said valveafter opening, by a slight elevation of said ball, for a sufficient period to permitthe escape of air, to close by further upward movement in response to an internal i 15, through which water water pipe or leg 15;

.threaded connection at 47 with steam pressure amounting to (say) five pounds,-the ball 14 then engaging the seat 17, and preventing further escape of steam into the surrounding oil or other liquid to be heated, an initial escape of steam, during a warming-up period, being sometimes useful for the purpose of rendering said liquid sutiiciently iuent to be pumped.

Although most of the air originally contained within the heater 13 is permitted to escape in the described manner, in order to provide a thermal insulation about the pipe is to be elevated without revaporization, the pipe 15 is shown as surrounded by a larger pipe 18, extending through the top 19 of the described heater and downwardly terminating at a level below the lower or inlet end 20 of the pipe 15,-the vupper end of the outer pipe 18 being shown as threaded at 21 into a ittiner 22 which provides a socket 23 for a stan ing valve organization comprising a valve cage element 24. This cage element, interiittmg within the socket 23, is shown as providing a seat for a ball valve 25 and as interiorly threaded, at 26, to receive the mentioned and condenser water may be sucked up past the valve 25, and delivered laterally into an exit or delivery pipe 27, shown as valved at 23, by any suitable means, as by a plunger 29, shown as working in a barrel 30, shown as secured within the vshort section 31 of suitable pipe or tubing,-rom which a lateral opening communicates, as by means of an elbow 32, with the water delivery pipe 27.

Above the described moving parts l show a main pump 33 as comprising a plunger 34, within a liner 35 in a cylinder or shell 36, the plunger 34 being shown as reciprocable by a hollow rod 37 of the marcaroni type and as provided with a valve 28 ,-said rod having at 39 a threaded engagement with acage fitting 40, by which the same is connected with the plunger 34. The connecting ot the cage elcinent 40 with the plunger 34, as by means of interior threads at 41 on the cage element 40, may be incidentally effective to retain a replaceable seat 42 in a known manner; and between -the threaded lower end 43 of the cylinder' or shell 36 and the short pipe section 31 surrounding the replaceable cylinder 30` ot the described subsidiary or water pump, l may interpose a valved oil inlet iitting 44 oi any suitable design.

The oil inlet fitting 44, as shown in Figs. 1A and2, may comprise a cylindrical or upwardly diminishing body 45, threaded at its upper end for engagement by corresponding threads upon the lower end 43 of the cylinder or outer shell of the described main pump; and the lower end of said inlet fitting, whether integral or provided in the form of aseparate plate-46, having said shell and Acured by nipples interiorly" threaded connection at 48 with the pipe section 31 of the subsidiary pump, may be provided with any suitable number of oil inlet valves 49,-these valves being shown as se- 50 and as confined by cages Oil, rendered fluent by the described heater or by equivalent means, after its admission past the valves 49, upon an upward movement of the plunger 34 of the main pump 33 (the return of suoli oil being prevented by the closing of the valves 49) is'compelled by the subsequent descent of the piston or plunger 34 to pass upwardly through a passage or passages 52, advancing past the valve or valves 38, in-such manner as to be retained thereby and lifted, during a subsequent upward movement ot the plunger that each reciprocation of the plunger 34, or its equivalent, shall be effective correspondingly to reciprocate the plunger 39, of the described subsidiary pump, forcing waterlcon lined above the ball 25 into the by-pass pipe or pipes 27, ll show the plunger 34 as connected with the plunger 39 by means comprising a rod 53, integral with the plunger 29, and a spider 54 threaded into both the plunger 34 and the rod 53, this spider being structurally similar to an ordinary valve cage of the type commonly used in standing valve organizations.

Although, when the particular construcf tion above described is employed, the stroke of the plungers 29 and 34 is identical, it will be understood that the internal diameter of the subsidiary or water cylinder or liners 30 may ordinarily be very much less than that ot the main or oil cylinders or liners 35, by

as much as the condensedwater is less'in bulk than the heated oil pumped, but each upward movement of the main pump plunger 34, as produced by the reciprocation of the mai-Caron pump rod 37 through which the pumped oil is delivered, is intended incidentally to remove such condensed water as may have collected upon the bottom 55 pret erably conical) of the heater 13; and each downward movement of the interconnected plungers must accordingly serve not only to force the heated oil or other fluid, handled by the main pump, relatively upward past the valve 38, or its equivalent, but to force the hot water or other heating fluid previously drawn into the space 56, above the valve 25, out past the valve or valves 28 and thence upward through the pipe or pipes 27. By returningsaid pipe or pipes 27 (as by means of an elbow or elbows 57) to a main string of tubing 58 surrounding the reciprocable macaroni string 37, I am able to utilize the residual heat of the condensed water in maintaining the temperature and consequent iluidity of the pumped oil during its delivery to the surface of the ground.

1t will be obvious that the dimensions oi lll() the described parts are .immaterial to the principles of my invention; but I may mention that, employingaheater about :forty feet long within an eight inch hole, and employing so-called four inch tubing in. conjunction with two and one-haltl inch mami-oni", I have obtained eminently satisfactory results, elevating heavy oils, ot' the general character referred to, through vertical distances such as 1,000 feet more or'less; but, in the case of very deep wells, the lowermost parts thereof being often of comparatively small diameter, I may commonly prefer to employ an oil inlet memof the-alternative character illustrated in Fig. 4. In this case, usinga heater 13 havingbut little clearance within the drilled hole or within a easing therein, and providing the oil inlet fitting 44a (shown as having approximately the same diameter as the heater 13a) with a flat side, as at 592, I may-.so dispose valves 49a as to permit an ample 1nvflow of heated oil, or the like, even though the mentioned flattening of the fitting 44*1 results in an unsymmetrical placing of said valves; and ample capacity is secured and space is provided for the pipes 12 and 2T (respectively corresponding to vthe mentioned pipes 12 and 27) substantially or entirely within a circle corresponding lin diameter to the heater 13a and/or the oil inlet litt-ing 44".

It will be obvious that steam. fed downward into pipe 12 (or equivalent, may be given any desired superheat-;and, although I have herein assumed or the like,

that condensed Water is handled by the described subsidiary pump, it will be obvious that, in extreme cases, suction of the subsidiary pump 29 maybe necessary only during an initial or warming u period',-stean 1 bemg pernutted during su sequent continuous operation to advance upward past the valves other heating fluids.

25 and 28 and to lill the space between the pipes 37 and 58 with uncondensed steam or In any case, the lower plunger 29 will be seen to be comprised in a n cans for conditioning the identical liquid willich is to be elevated by the upper plunger 34. y

Although I haveherein described a single complete embodiment of my invention, suggesting one alternative construction of an oil inlet member, it should be understood not s'killed in the armt to which this case relates,

only that various features of my device are capable of independent use. but also that numerous modifications, additional to that suggested above, might easily be devised by those without involving the slightest departure from the spirit and scope of this invention, as the same is indicated above and in the following claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a combined heating Vand pumping organization suitable for, insertion in a well hole; a main pump comprising cylically. moving parts; means for conducting a heating fluid into proximity to said pump; and means whereby the cyclical movement of a part of said main pump is effective-separately to elevite any condensed portion of said heating lui 2. An organization of the general character defined in claim l in which said main pump is a reciprocating pump. 3. An organization of the general character defined in lclaim 1 in which said main pump is a reciprocatingpump whose plunger is rigidly connected with the lplunger of a pump constituting the mentioned means for the separate elevation of a condensed portion of said heating fluid.

4. In combination: means for elevating oil from a well; a steam heater in said well; and means facilitating a displacement of air from said heater, to permit the entrance of steam thereto. v

5. In combination: means for elevating oil from a well; a steam heater iii said well; and means facilitating a displacement of air from said heater, to permit the entrance of steam lthereto, said last mentionede means comprising a valve which is closed, by a predetermined subsequent internal steam pressure.

6. A pumping organization which comprises an upper plunger; a lower plunger; separate cylinders surrounding each of said plungers,; separately valved inlets to said cylinders; non-communicatin delivery conduits respectively connecte with outlets from said cylinders, the upperof said delivery conduits being central and centrally valved and the lower of said conduits beingv lateral and separately valved; and means,

between said plungers, rendering reciprocation of one of said plungers effective to produce reciprocation ofthe other of said plungers, and thereby to advance separate columns of liquid through the respective delivery conducts; and a conditioning organization including said lower plunger, said conditioning organization comprising a lower chamber adapted to receive a hot fluid for conditionlng a vliquid surrounding said chamber and which is to be elevated by said upper plunger.

A pumping.organi/.ation which comprises an upper plunger; a lower plunger; separate cylinders surrounding each of said plungers; separately valved inlets to said cyhnders; non-communicating delivery conduits respectively connected with outlets from said cylinders, the upper of said delivery conduits being central and centrally` valved and thelower of said conduits being lateral and separately valved; and a connecting rod, between said plungers, rendering reciprocation of one of said tive to produce reciprocation of the other of said plungers, andithereby to advance separate columns of liquid'through the respective plungers effecdelivery conduits and a conditioning organization including said lower plunger and :t loWei` chamber adapted to receive :L hot fluid for conditioning nl liquid surrounding said i chamber and which is to be elevated by seid upper plungensaid connecting rod hemg surrounded by am Linlet fitting adapted to receive` liquid to plunger.

In testimony whereof, I-have hereunto set 10 my hand at Los Angeles, Californie, this 26th day of January, 1926.

KARL P. NEILSEN.

be elevated by said upper 

